What if...

I have just enough coffee to make a very small pot, yielding only one full mug...but that's enough to go perfectly with a slice of the coconut cake that Jessi made me yesterday. Mmmmm. With that stimulating breakfast, I'll have an hour's worth of housework done in 15 minutes, but then I'll crash when the sugar high ends. Guess I'll have to refuel with a Red Velvet Butter Finger cupcake after lunch. (Also made by Jessi, with Holly's recipe).
Side note: Disregard #25 on the list below :)

With those baking skills and the education she received Thursday night on her girls night out with the old married ladies...although we may have confused or scared her more so than educating her, sorry J...she has all the tools in place to get hitched. Except a guy who deserves her, I'm not sure one of those exists. But I am accepting resumes on her behalf.

1 wonderful husband.

2 beautiful children.

3 college scholarships yielding a great education.

4 friends who treated me to a really great surprise last night.

5 seats filled around my childhood dinner table.

6 years I've been a mommy.

7 different addresses.

8 days since I've seen my kids.

9 Hill grandchildren, I'm the youngest.

10 years of marriage.

11 family pets from childhood to present (that I can recall!)

12 months between the births of my children.

13 Not so lucky.

14 unfinished books on the shelf.

15 feels like yesterday, now it's half my age.

16 May 1998, my wedding anniversary.

17 Sheppard grandchildren, I'm somewhere in the middle.

18 years of school...and an incomplete MS.

19 years as a Sheppard. Traded double "p" for double "m."

20 years (or thereabouts) of friendship with Amy.

21 was the birthday David "forgot," actually, he said he was just too busy. Better to say "forgot."

22 years old when I flew for the first time, to visit a friend in France.

23 Psalm, the first scripture I ever memorized.

24 hours x 365 days x 30 years = 262, 800 hours in my life (not including leap year hours).

25 pounds I'd like to lose.

26 consecutive months of nursing babies back to back.

27 years in Florida.

28 months since the launch of Elevation Church.

29 years old when I started this blog, on my birthday last year.

30 years old today.

I think most parents would agree that when you're separated from your children, (mine are vacationing in FL with the grandparents), your mind tends to dwell only on the super cute, funny, loving, silly parenting moments, feeding the ache. Everything I do reminds me of them. But cooking dinner for my family is not full of sweet moments. Luke is usually in major distress, assuring me he will "starb to def" if he doesn't eat that very instant. Lily is usually asking for the 100th time what we're having for dinner, hoping the answer will change, and insisting she'll go to bed hungry before eating what I've made. Fine with me. I ignore the moans of starvation and requests for blue box macaroni and continue on, one ear keenly tuned into the door to hear for David turning the knob. His arrival home offers a brief rescue as their attention turns to him for a few moments. So with that said, as I've cooked dinner for just two this week, there haven't been many "miss the kids so much" moments during my dinner time prep. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking my "gross" meals without hearing a single complaint.

I grilled a pork tenderloin for dinner last night. Yum. I love to grill and I'm finally getting the hang of it. As I seasoned the meat, I couldn't help but think back the the first time the kids ever noticed a tenderloin sitting on the counter top. I watched them peek at it over the opposite side of the bar, they were 3 and 4 at the time. After a few seconds of horrified silence, Lily looked at me with huge eyes and asked if I was cooking a baby seal. I couldn't help but laugh hard but managed to reassure them that I wasn't, and then they were tickled at the thought as well, so we all enjoyed a good laugh about it. So in my "baby seal" flashback last night, I again realized how very much I miss my kids.

I really don't have very much to say these days (at least in the blog world!). And when I do take a moment to hop on the computer, it's to visit this blog, or this blog. You really should do the same. I'm so glad Wade and Ferris are taking us along on this amazing journey. Make sure you check out Ferris' blog for the pics, beautiful! You will laugh, you will cry, and you will feel their love and gratitude through the computer screen. Your faith will be strengthened...you could pretty much skip your quiet time otherwise and just hang out on their blogs (just kidding!)...but I know I feel close to God as I follow along with their story. Stay in prayer for this sweet family, I feel like I'm getting to know them a little better each day and regardless of where you are in the world, I know you will too. Pray for their precious girls, for the specific needs they alert us to, and join them in thanksgiving to God for His blessings! Pray for Wade and Ferris' endurance and that those of us in proximity to them would have creative, tangible ways to support them.

So, if you're not already, jump on board and follow along with their story.

Welcome to the world, Liana and Adleigh! Congratulations, Wade and Ferris!

Isn't it odd that I'll usually take any and every opportunity I can, even make up my own opportunities, to get mushy about that hubby of mine....but didn't on Father's Day? He is indeed a GREAT dad, but I wanted to do more than offer lip service so rather than take time to post on Father's Day, the kids and I stayed busy making his day special, or at least I hope we did. But one day later, I'll take just a second to say David is indeed an amazing dad to Lily and Luke. At 5 and 6 they have no idea how truly blessed they are to have a dad like him, but they will one day. And I should know great dads, I happen to have one.

Would you believe that the waitress gave us an Elevation Church pen to sign our bill last night at dinner? At a restaurant several towns and one county away from where we first launched the church just over two years ago. Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it felt pretty amazing to see that pen sitting on the table. When David brought it to my attention, my first response was, Did I bring that pen? Wild. I guess someone else doesn't return their pen to the usher at the door.

Welcome to Ft. Mess-to-Clean. I am not a fan of fort building. The indoor kind. Probably not the outdoor kind either. I don't like to fold sheets and blankets for the usual reasons, much less undo perfectly good, clean, folded sheets and blankets for fort building. But when one very handsome little red head asks for help with a fort with his sweet misarticulated "r" sound, I'm toast.
5 linens + 4 pony tail holders = one fort (a.k.a. one big mess to clean). I'm guessing if David had built the fort with Luke, it wouldn't have involved hair care items.

Fast forward to Jess' living room. Night one of Beth Moore's Daniel study. It wasn't long before Beth (yes, we're on a first name basis) was really hitting a nerve with me. me. me. It's all about me. I make it all about me. And if I'm honest, I really get tired of me. So once again I'm reminded how sovereign and loving and personal our God is, how very, very personal. His perfect timing. After I'd argued with myself on the drive there about my behavior and how tired I am of those same patterns, Beth helps to connect the dots. This is going to be a great study, just what I need. Less me, more Him.

So I'm still pretty sick of myself, but I think it can be a good thing.

The official first day of summer may not be until June 21st, but around our house, summer started today! (And we've got the heat to prove it.)

The kids slept until almost 9am. That NEVER happens on a Saturday! I wish that would become their habit, but I'm not getting my hopes up...I'm pretty sure it's just because they had an exhausting weekend. I started to stir around 6:30 a.m., praised the Lord that the alarm wasn't going off (really, I offered up a lovely prayer of thanksgiving in my sleepy head)...and then rolled over and went back to sleep. I was up by 7:30 and really enjoyed the relaxing pace of the morning.

If there is one thing I can do, it's plan and "purpose" the fun out of down time. But I don't plan on making that mistake with our summer. I'm trying to approach this summer with an appreciation of life not being dictated by clock or calendar. We'll have a bit of a schedule just to keep the kids on track , but a day with no agenda sounds like a good day to me! We moved into our house a year ago this month, so last summer was overshadowed by the dreaded task of unpacking. We also enjoyed a beach vacation in July, and then the kids headed to Florida for a few weeks in August. Busyness and activity of all sorts was spread throughout the summer. This year, the kids' Florida trip is the only major thing on our calendar, and it'll take place early in the summer (they go next week!). When they return, we'll have plenty of time for lazy days of sleeping in (fingers crossed), PBJ lunches and afternoons of nothing much.

But then again, there's always the unexpected stuff that pops up. I sit here on "Day 1" putting in black and white that I'm looking forward to an easy-going summer. I wonder what unknowns a September summer-recap will hold!

When I posted Luke's tribute to the great sport of baseball and it's anthem, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, I didn't realize how timely my post was. At the game, I read in the program that this year marks the Centennial Anniversary of the famous song, written in 1908 but not gaining tremendous popularity until much later. Now it's the third most recited song in American culture, behind Happy Birthday and The Star Spangled Banner.

So Happy 100th to a dear friend of the family.

And if you haven't checked out the clip below, you really should give it a listen. I would think it adorable even if it wasn't my very own little sports fan. And boy does time fly! It feels like I filmed that just yesterday, not 3 years ago!

Tonight we're taking the kids to a baseball game. Luke has a lifelong love for baseball. Lifelong may seem like a dramatic choice of words for a five year old, but he developed a passion for America's favorite pastime as a very little boy. The sport, and all things associated, captured his attention and as most toddlers were using their tiny voices for "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" he was singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" word for word.

When I first got my iPod last year and created playlists for each of the kids, he asked for "Ballgame" as he calls it. iTunes had hundreds of choices, we went with Lonestar's version. But by far, my favorite version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is sung by none other than 2 year old Lukey himself. Enjoy.

Days ago I said I'd post a few pics from the dance recital and I'm finally getting around to it. Most of you have never seen Lily with her hair "fixed." Isn't it lovely? Isn't she just beautiful? I mean, I know she's beautiful all the time but for this hair-do loving chick, who in 7th grade perfected my own "poof" that eludes so many women (bobby pin, rubberband or barrette, oh yes!), and absolutely loves to fix hair, the fact that my daughter prefers no barrettes, no pony tails, practically no brushing causes me some stress. So that in itself was a big deal. Lily's class wore all white, they were sheep. Sweet, sweet sheep.



Changing into ballet shoes to rehearse the big finale...
Lily and Abbey at rehearsal...Anything she can do, he can do better...The "flock" about to head out on stage...

The weekend highlight was certainly Lily's big dance recital.

Congratulations to Mrs. Jackie and Ms. Erica on a very successful first end of year recital and art show.

Wish that was the only weekend news. No such luck. What would follow the mountain top experience of watching your precious 6 year old dance her first recital? Taking the same 6 year old to the ER during an asthma attack, of course. So on that note, while still fresh in my mind, here is my suggested ER survival list. Please feel free to bookmark this page to quickly refer back to in the moments before heading out the door to the ER. (Or a better idea may be to print it out and store with your emergency phone numbers, CPR poster, etc.)

1.) Long sleeves are advised. Not only for warmth in the meat locker known as an ER waiting room but also because long sleeves feel like a germ barrier and offer a false sense of security.

2.) Get loose...as in loose change. Rob your hubby's dresser stash, kids' piggy bank, car console...whatever means necessary. Without change you will watch others enjoy candy bars, Cheetos and Sprite at all hours of the night and though you normally wouldn't ingest such junk at 2 a.m., these snacks will look extremely inviting. Especially to a six year old who has vomited up everything in her small body leaving her "starving to death" and begging for a snack. Snacking will also help pass the time and with a PBS telethon on the TV, any help passing the time would be greatly valued.

3.) When taking a young, impressionable child into the ER, consider using the drive there to educate her about the variety of people, situations, foul language and conflicts that one may witness in an ER. This may later prevent the child from asking questions within earshot of questionable characters.

4.) Beware of 3 a.m. Not sure what it is about 3 a.m. but 3 a.m. is tough. Makes a mommy cry for no real reason, other than being in the ER with a little one at 3 a.m. 1 and 2 a.m. just feel like a late night, still a chance of getting a few hours sleep. 4 and 5 a.m. are recognizable as very early morning, you know you'll have to clear the day ahead to catch up on sleep, but the dawn is near. But 3 a.m., it's just tough. Some normal people are still up at 1 and 2, having a good time. Some normal people are up at 4 and 5, starting the work day. But nobody should be up at 3 a.m. It is a long, dark, lonely hour. Just be advised.

5.) The buddy system: if at all possible have an ER buddy. A buddy with loose change would be best. Your buddy can either go with you or stay with your other child(ren) so your spouse can go. Sleep deprived 6 year olds are not great for conversation, and the ER crowd can be pretty unfriendly. No one in the ER wants to be your friend. Everyone in the ER wants only one thing: to be next. There is a sense of unspoken tension, competition. You won't make friends in the ER, so you better take one. I did not call upon an ER buddy. I regretted that decision come 3 a.m. So in the wise words of Woody the cowboy on the subject of moving buddies (and the same concept would apply), If you don't have one, get one!

6.) Laughter is the best medicine. 5 hours + ER = no fun. Especially when most symptoms subside around hour number 3 and you know the Dr isn't going to take you seriously however you've already invested too much time to leave. No fun. But funny? Sure. You can find some funny. And the funny helps you get through it, so look for the funny. Lily watching Good Times. Funny. She didn't know what to think of JJ. And they say sleep deprivation is similar to intoxication, and poor Lily had never been without sleep so long in her short little life, so basically, I had a drunk 6 year old...hyper and silly one minute, sluggish and rambling the next. She finally feel asleep hard at 4:45 and had to be awakened at 5:20 for a dose of medicine as we were discharged. Apparently it tasted bad and on the drive home she decided it would be okay to spit into the leather seat beside her. Just leaned over from her booster and spit. Several times. Something she would NEVER do if coherent. But apparently lack of sleep was taking it's toll on me too because my response was to roll down my window and turn on the radio. Neither of which cleaned the spit or stopped her from continuing, my sleepy brain apparently couldn't decide how to handle the situation.

So those are a few things I can think of that may help you survive your next trip to the ER. But my best advice about the ER: Avoid the ER.

beautifully.

I'll add a few pics soon.